Lighter
by TheBlindReader
Summary: Wanda helps Pietro cope with one of the side effects of his new powers. Oneshot.


_A/N: I own nothing. Yeah, rub it in, why don't I?_

Wanda arrived at the base's training area a few minutes later than usual. Strucker had thought simply _telling_ her today's assignments was too straightforward. Instead, he stood on the other side of her two-way mirror and ordered her to read them through his mind.

Hence the delay. And hence, the slight headache she now had. It wasn't from the mind reading. That was easy. But she had very little patience for the Baron's random exercises. Especially when they wasted some of the only time she was allowed to spend with Pietro.

Dual training, Hydra called it. Three hours, everyday, in which she and her brother were supposed to learn how to simultaneously use their powers without hindering each other. Fortunately, they had over twenty years of experience working as a team; they used this training time mostly for goofing off.

So naturally, given that she was 8 minutes late, Wanda was surprised to be the first Maximoff twin to enter the training area this morning. Even without super-speed, Pietro should've been there before her.

She was just about to search the mind of a nearby guard for an explanation, when a door on the opposite side of the enclosure slid open, and in walked Pietro. Key word being _walked._ Hands crammed into his pockets, eyes on the ground, lost in thought, he trudged along, completely oblivious to his sister's presence. And to top it all off, he was wearing a hat.

Her brother. Wearing a hat. And not just any hat. It was one of those small black ones the Hydra guards sometimes wore. The type of hat Pietro had made fun of on multiple occasions.

It didn't take a psychic to sense that something was wrong.

"Pietro?" Wanda called in disbelief.

The speedster looked up, startled. For a moment, he even seemed horrified to see her. But only for a moment. Then, in a whoosh of blue energy, he was by her side.

"Good morning, Sister," he said, kissing one of her cheeks, as was his custom. "Are you ready to begin today's assignment?"

Wanda ignored his question. "Why are you wearing a hat?"

Pietro shrugged in a nonchalant kind of way. "One of the soldiers let me have it."

"Mmmhmm." A long silence ensued, one that involved Wanda grilling her brother with a hard stare, and said brother trying to appear fascinated with his shoes. It was the type of silence only siblings would understand. The "I know there's something up, and you know that I know there's something up, and I know that you know that I know there's something up, and the sooner you tell me what's up, the sooner we can stop pretending we're both stupid" silence.

Suddenly, Wanda burst into laughter. Pietro scowled at her.

"What did you do? Burn your hair off by running too fast?" she teased.

Pietro's eyes widened in utter mortification.

"Wait... You didn't, did you?" She asked, once again in disbelief.

"No! It's not that- It's just- I-" He groaned, defeated. Removing the cloth cap, he inclined his head downward for her inspection.

"What, do you have lice or something?" She stepped back a bit, concerned.

"Just look at it!" He had begun to whine in the way he always did when he was upset.

"Alright, I'm looking." Her eyes drifted over the top of his head.

Then she saw what had caused all the fuss.

Near the front of his scalp, streaks of white striped his otherwise brown hair.

She shook her head at him, unable to hold back a grin. "You are _such_ a drama queen."

"No, I'm too young for this!" Pietro objected, but already looked chagrined.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Twelve Minutes."

"I'm going to shave it all off."

"No."

"Fine. I'm going to stop running."

"Yeah, right."

"Wanda, I'm serious."

She rolled her eyes. "Your hair's getting lighter. So what?"

"So maybe I don't want to be the only 20 year old guy in Sokovia with white hair!" He crossed his arms and studied the ground for a while. "And, it's just..." he sighed, "we hardly look alike as it is, and now _this_ has to happen..."

Wanda felt a rush of sympathy and admiration for her brother. Of course that was what troubled him. Nothing in the world mattered more to him than his family, which, as of ten years ago, was just her.

She pulled Pietro, who still had his arms crossed, into a tight hug.

"If you woke up one morning and your hair was _green,_ you would be no less my brother than you were the day before," she told him.

"So I have your permission to shave it?"

" _No._ "

They chuckled.

"Besides," she said, releasing him, "I'm sure your new look will drive the girls crazy."

"Yeah?" He grinned in satisfaction.

And that was the last time Wanda ever heard Pietro complain about his hair.

 _A/N: Thank you for reading!_


End file.
